CLASS AVES. 



143 



The Wliooping- crane 

 Mississippi Valley. It 

 seeks its food in the wild 

 uplands, feeding upon 

 insects and plants. 

 About thirteen inches of 



FIG. 343. 



is principally confined to the 



Fro. 242. 



Trachea of the Whooping-craiie. 



the windpipe are twisted 

 up in a hollow of the 

 breast-bone, thus giving 

 to the voice a sonorous, 

 trumpet-like tone. 



The Rails have long, 



FIG. 244. 



-.: -:., .-".' - 



v - 



trrws ameri&Tnus. Whooping-crane. 



slender toes ; a compressed body 

 and short tail. Their nostrils are 

 more or less pervious, giving them 

 an acute sense of smell. Feeding 

 in the marshes upon small snails 

 and insects, they are protected 

 from observation by their mim- 

 icry of the grassy tuffs. The 

 Virginia Rail* is a type of the 

 genus Rallus, which contains 

 about twenty species. 



* Except in being smaller, it is almost 

 identical in form and color with 7?. elegam, thus 

 showing the value of size as a specific and dis- 

 tinctive ch.-imrf' r. This latter species is 

 in New England, where it is called "Mud-hen." 



iK vir (fin / <~r ////.?. 

 Virginia Rail. <,i.) 



